A Retelling/A New Beginning

[Jason Tacker]

John is sitting down on a wooden stool at an interview soundstage-like area, he is wearing his general street attire which consist of a black tee shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of dark black sunglasses on top of his messy hair. The stage itself was somewhat dimly lit, with only the main light shining above John and a currently vacant stool. Also, two banners behind John are barely visible, one with the UGWC logo and name with the other being for SEN or Sports Entertainment Network. A female make-up artist begins to apply some sort of powder to John's face, as he is getting ready for the interview.

John: "So, any idea who the reporter is who is gonna be picking my brain?"

The make-up artist keeps on applying things as she answers him.

Make-Up Artist: "Sorry, couldn't tell ya as I honestly don't know."

John: "Bummer, was kinda hoping to get a certain someone."

She finishes applying the make-up to John's face and then leaves the stage. John begins to express some boredom on his face as he waits for the interviewer to show up, as he wanted to just get this over with as soon as humanly possible. After a couple more minutes of waiting, a middle-aged man in a very nice suit walked out onto the stage and took a seat on the other stool across from John. Before he could even say anything John asked him a pretty point blank question.

John: "Who the hell are you?"

The man in the suit just smiled before responding.

Man In Suit: "Well, I am Daniel Williams and I will be interviewing you today."

John didn't look too happy about it.

John: "Steel busy or something?"

Daniel shakes his head from left to right.

Daniel: "Not that I know of, she just asked me to fill in for her."

Before John could say anything else the director started the countdown for the interview to begin. As soon as he finished the countdown, he motioned for Daniel to start it up.

Daniel: "Hi, I'm Daniel Williams joined currently by a former LWF Superstar and a soon to be UGWC Superstar. Mister John Russo!"

John just folds his arms and looks over at the camera for a moment before looking over at Daniel.

Daniel: "So mister Russo, how are things going for yourself?"

John: "Well, they're going that's for sure. Still pretty banged up from that elimination chamber match two days ago."

Daniel: "Ah yes, the last ever LWF championship match. How'd that go for you?"

John gives Daniel a sort of "evil glare" before responding.

John: "Well, let's put it this way. It could've gone better then what happened."

Daniel: "So, I take it you didn't win?"

John glares at him once more, as Daniel looks at some notes.

Daniel: "Okay then, let's talk about what you did before the LWF I heard that you were a pretty good mixed martial artist."

John: "Yeah; I studied Kickboxing, which I would heavily rely on. And I also used a little bit of Judo, which I really haven't used since learning to wrestle."

Daniel: "Did you compete for an MMA organization at all?"

John shakes his head from left to right.

John: "No, I never really wanted to do anything like UFC or Pride. I was content with smaller competitions and underground fights."

Daniel: "So, why'd you leave that all behind then? I mean if you were really content then you would've continued in them, right?"

John unfolds his arms for a moment and extends his right index finger to point at Daniel. Then, he begins to shake it up and down.

John: "You've got yourself a pretty good point there. The fact of the matter was that it kinda got old and stale after a while."

Daniel: "But, doesn't sports entertainment get just as old and stale after a while?"

John: "Not from where I'm sitting. I mean; we are storytellers, we go out to tell a story and put on a good show. During a mixed-martial-arts fight; there is no story, just go out there and beat the living piss out of the guy standing across from you at the beginning of the fight."

Daniel: "Okay, so you go from underground MMA to sports entertainment. Was it a hard transition?"

John refolds his arms across his chest prior to answering the question.

John: "It actually wasn't as bad as I originally thought it would be. The only problem I had in the beginning was the whole "promo" thing. But, once I got that under my belt it was pretty much smooth sailing."

Daniel: "Well, let's start with the "Nero-persona" what was the deal with that?"

John chuckles softly to himself before responding.

John: "Originally it was used as a sort of way to mask who I was, as I didn't want my old MMA buddies to know what I was doing."

Daniel: "Well, it got you over rather quickly with the fans. Ever wonder why?"

John: "You know what, I never really thought of that. Probably because in the beginning I was meant to just be the goofball. But, it turned into something serious quite quickly."

Daniel: "Yeah, as you had a losing story-arch where you triumphed at Lord of the Ring in 2008. How big was that push for you?"

John: "It was a rather big deal to me, as it was the first time that Lock and I somewhat actually worked side by side. I mean; I approached him about one match that I was supposed to win and I told him, 'You know what, book me to lose this match as I want to try something out.' And he said okay and from there it was history."

Daniel looks through his notes again, as John rubs his chin before folding his arms across his chest again.

Daniel: "After the whole Lord of the Ring thing, you were in an on-again off-again feud with the late Darius Jermaine. It pretty much cemented you as one of the top guys at the time. So, how was it to work with him?"

John: "Well, I have a lot of respect for Darius. He would do some edgy stuff, but he would really make it work when we were going at it. I always looked forward to working with him, 'cause I never knew what we were going to end up doing next."

Daniel: "And you ended up with a win for the Cross-Hemisphere title on the episode of Warzone prior to Outlast 2008. Was that bigger then Lord of the Ring?"

John: "I don't know. I kinda see them both as being quite equal in terms of significance."

Daniel: "Really?"

John: "Yeah, I mean Lord of the Ring put me on the cusp of being a top guy. And the Cross-Hemisphere title put me over that cusp."

Daniel: "Interesting... Well you've said it before in other interviews, but I think it bears repeating after what you just said. Your title reign ended up to a match that you have said was one of the best matches you've ever had. And the match in question was against Lone Wolf at Lockmania in a Last Man Standing Match. Do you still consider it one of your best matches?"

A smile crosses John's face at the mention of last year's Cross-Hemisphere Championship match at Lockmania.

John: "Yes I do."

Daniel: "Why?"

John: "Well, it's kinda like how I truly respect Darius I respect Wolf. And we would always do some incredible work together, whether it was in a multi-man match or the match we had during the Lord of the Ring tournament, the two of us just seemed to click and bring out all."

Daniel: "After that you kinda just floated around for a little bit. Why is that?"

John: "Truth was, I was just really burned out. I needed sometime to recharge my batteries, so I just toned it down and went from there. Luckily, they recharged quickly so I could get back in the ring and get on with my next storyline."

Daniel: "Ah yes, the Infinite Flight storyline. It went from a stable war to essentially just you and Pierce against them."

John: "Yeah, some guys flaked out on us. But; Travis, Arelas, Fear, myself, and everyone else ended up making it work in the end."

Daniel: "And then came, what you yourself have called, the worst part of your sports entertainment career. You turned into a heel."

John chuckles slightly for a moment before smiling.

Daniel: "Why? Not only why it was your worst, but why did you do it?"

John: "Well; at first I tried to be someone that was on the line, but didn't necessarily cross it in terms of face and heel. Then I got the bright idea of going full blown heel, and the fans shit on it."

Daniel is now chuckling as well as John.

Daniel: "Then why even do it?"

John: "I don't know, guess I just wanted to see what it felt like."

Daniel: "From there you were pretty much just floating around, even up until Sunday night. Didn't that bother you?"

John: "Yeah it bothered me a lot. Which is why as LWF was closing I went back to being the guy that was on the line, but wasn't crossing it affiliation-wise."

Daniel: "So, what's next for you here in UGWC?"

John shrugs his shoulders.

John: "Don't know yet, whatever this consortium has planned I guess. But, I do know this. Whatever is down this road that UGWC will be taking me, it will be one hell of a ride."

Daniel: "Well, John we thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come on down here and talk with us."

John: "No problem."

Daniel: "With that said, I am Daniel Williams reporting for SEN."

The director gives them the signal that they aren't recording anymore. Both Daniel and John stand up from their seats, and shake each others hands.

Daniel: "Wow, that went rather well. I thought you were going to be pissed that Steel wasn't interviewing you."

John: "Don't get me wrong, I was pissed off quite a bit that she wasn't here. But, I'm a professional with a job to do."

They finish shaking hands, and John lowers his sunglasses to cover his eyes.

John: "Oh Daniel, one thing."

Daniel: "Yeah?"

John: "Do me a favor and ask her to give me a call when you get the chance."

Daniel: "I can do that."

John just nods and walks off of the set, having conducted his business here.

[Lord Hastings]

I liked this a lot. You picked up seemlessly from what we last heard from Russo in LWF before Lockmania, and at the same time gave us a solid overview of his career in LWF. I can also see the continued development of a storyline that we saw starting to build over the past month or so, that I'll certainly be looking forward to. Well done!

[T-Robosaurus Rex]

Yup, I'm with Steve on this, liked it a lot. Coming as someone who had no idea who the character was, I now have a nice understanding of him, and a good overview of his significant moments in LWF. I also caught the storyline thread, and even as someone who hasn't seen the beginning am intrigued to see what the deal between John and Steel is.

Also, one thing I found interesting is that John is almost an opposite of Jet Somers in GIW, an MMA star who reluctantly stepped into the Sports Entertainment world, whereas John did it willingly and with hope.